1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a header connector and particularly to a head connector having two groups of shields therein.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,677 discloses a backplane connector. The backplane connector includes a first connector element and a mating second connector element. Each connector element has a plurality of rows of signal contacts and a row of ground contacts. When the two elements are joined, the contacts directed upwardly between sidewalls of the first connector element are connected to a plurality of corresponding downwardly directed contacts of the second connector element, thereby providing a signal path and a ground path between the two connector elements.
However, continued advances in the design of electronic devices for data processing and communications systems, have placed rigorous demands on the design of electrical connector, particular to high speed and high density environment. However, an electrical connector in the prior art generally has one ground path in a direction. In this situation, the only one ground path when failed for some reasons would damage internal circuit of the electronic devices. Hence, an improved connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a header connector having two shields for providing a ground path without increasing the overall size of the header connector.
In order to achieve the object set forth, a header connector comprises an elongated body having a base portion, a plurality of signal contacts received in the base portion, and a plurality of shielding strips and a plurality of shielding beams. The base portion has a plurality of passageways and through-holes therein. Each contact comprises a middle portion positioned in the through-hole, a plurality of retaining portions extending downwardly from the middle portion, and a plurality of engaging portions extending upwardly from the middle portion. The plurality of strips and beams are located in the passageways of the base portion for shielding the signal contacts. Each of the beams and the strips defines a middle portion, and the middle portion of each beam defines a plurality of gaps for receiving corresponding middle portions of the strips. The strips are arranged parallel to each other in a first direction. The beams are arranged parallel to each other in a second direction which is perpendicular to the first direction.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.